JPH0681742U - Inkjet device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] Do not stain the platen or printing paper when wiping the head required for an inkjet printer. [Structure] When the non-printing sensor 25 detects the carriage 3 moved to the non-printing position, the motor moves the wiper blade 22 to the forward position shown by the broken line. Then, as the head 2 moves from the non-printing position to the printing position,
In the bent state of the wiper blade 22, the nozzle surface of the head 2 is slidably contacted for wiping. Then, at the moment of ending the wiping, the wiper blade 22 tries to restore the original shape by the elastic force. The ink wiped by the momentum at the time of the restoration is the platen 16 and the printing paper 17.
It is thrown away in the direction opposite to the direction where is placed.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an inkjet device having a flexible member that wipes a nozzle surface of a head that ejects ink.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, an ink jet device of this type has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-77669, and its schematic configuration will be described below with reference to FIG.

A head 35 that ejects ink from nozzles (not shown) is mounted on a carriage 34, and the carriage 34 is moved along the platen 31 by a drive source (not shown). Then, ink is ejected from the head 35 along with the movement of the carriage 34 onto the printing paper 32 conveyed onto the platen 31 by a rubber roller (not shown), and image data is printed. A flexible wiper blade 36 for wiping the nozzle surface of the head 35 is provided in the vicinity of the home position HP of the carriage 34 (on the left side of the platen 31 in FIG. 3), and the wiping surface 36 a of the wiper blade 36 has a wiping surface 36 a. It is arranged so that it is perpendicular to the moving direction of the. Further, the wiper blade 36 is movable between an advancing position shown by a broken line in FIG. 3 for sliding contact with the head 35 for wiping and a rearward retracted position shown by a solid line in FIG. 3 not sliding for contact with the head 35.

After printing the image data, the wiper blade 36 is arranged at the forward position, and the carriage 34 is moved from the printing position to the home position HP which is the non-printing position. By the movement of the carriage 34, the nozzle surface of the head 35 and the wiping surface 36a of the wiper blade 36 are brought into sliding contact with each other to wipe the nozzle surface.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the above-described inkjet device, the wiping surface 36a of the wiper blade 36 faces the platen 31 side, and the nozzle surface of the head 35 is wiped as the carriage 34 moves from the printing position to the non-printing position. Since the wiper blade 36, which is tightly attached to the nozzle surface of the head 35 by the elastic force caused by the bending during wiping, removes the wiped ink from the platen 31 and the printing paper 32 at the moment when the wiper blade 36 leaves the head 35. Flip in the direction you are in. For this reason, the scattered ink may adhere to the platen 31 and the printing paper 32 and stain them.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an inkjet device that does not stain the platen or the printing paper during wiping.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 To achieve this object, in claim 1 of the present invention, a head that ejects ink droplets from a nozzle, a carriage that moves the head along a platen, and a carriage that moves the carriage from a non-printing position to a printing position. Accordingly, a flexible member for wiping the nozzle surface of the head is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the flexible member is moved by a moving unit between an advance position capable of sliding contact with a nozzle surface of the head and a retracted position not sliding contact, and the moving unit moves the carriage. When the carriage is moved from the printing position to the non-printing position, the flexible member is moved from the non-printing position to the printing position. Does not move to the forward position.

[0009]

[Action]

 In the ink jet device of the present invention having the above structure, the nozzle surface of the head is wiped as the flexible member moves from the non-printing position to the printing position of the carriage. Immediately after the wiping, the elastic force of the flexible member causes the wiped ink to be ejected in the direction in which the platen and the printing paper are not arranged.

[0010]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

First, the configuration of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. A platen 16 is rotatably provided in the housing 21 of the printer 1 in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1, and a guide shaft 4 is provided along the platen 16. A carriage 3 is slidably attached to the guide shaft 4, and a belt 7 is attached to the carriage 3. The belt 7 is wound around the idle pulley 8 and the drive pulley 6. The drive pulley 6 is rotated by the drive motor 5, and the rotation of the drive pulley 6 causes the carriage 3 to move along the guide shaft 4 via the belt 7 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. A head 2 is mounted on the carriage 3 so as to face the platen 16, and ink for printing is stored in the head 2.

The printing paper 17 is inserted into the housing 21 in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 1 from the rear of the printer 1, is conveyed in the direction of arrow D along the platen 16, and is discharged from the housing 21 of the printer 1. . When the printing paper 17 is conveyed to the platen 16, the head 2 ejects ink as the carriage 3 moves, whereby desired data is printed.

A cap 9 is provided on the left side of the platen 16 in FIG. 1 (near the non-printing position of the head 2), and a cap rubber 10 is attached to the cap 9 so as to be in close contact with the head 2. There is. Further, the cap 9 is attached to the head 2 so as to be movable in the direction of arrow E in FIG. 1, and the cap rubber 10 is brought into close contact with the head 2 as appropriate. A connecting tube 12 is attached to the cap 9 and is connected to the pump 11. A discharge tube 13 is connected to the pump 11, and the discharge tube 13 is connected to a waste ink tank 14 containing an adsorbent 15.

A flexible wiper blade 22 is provided between the platen 16 and the cap 9 in the non-printing position. The wiper blade 22 is attached so as to be movable in the direction of arrow F in FIG. The wiper blade 22 normally stands by at a retracted position where it does not come into contact with the head 2, and during wiping, it is moved to an advanced position where it can be slidably contacted with the head 2 by a motor (not shown). The motor is driven by the detection of the carriage 3 by the non-printing sensor 25 and the printing sensor 26 shown in FIG. The non-printing sensor 25 is provided at the non-printing position, and the printing sensor 26 is provided at the printing position.

Next, the operation of the printer 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the printing paper 17 is inserted in the housing 21 of the printer 1 in the direction of arrow C and is conveyed to the platen 16. Then, the head 2 attached to the carriage 3 which is moved in the direction of arrow B by the drive motor 5 ejects ink according to the data input when it is sent to the position of the print paper 17, and the ink is ejected onto the print paper 17. Form an image. After that, when the head 2 prints a certain amount or the user operates the head 2 as needed, the head 2 is maintained. During the maintenance, the head 2 is moved to the platen 16 in FIG. It will be moved to the left non-print position. Next, the cap 9 approaches the head 2 and the cap rubber 10 adheres to the head 2 to cover the vicinity of the nozzle of the head 2. Then, the pump 11 sucks the ink and the air bubbles in the head 2, and further the foreign substances attached to the vicinity of the nozzle, and discharges them to the adsorbent 15 in the waste ink tank 14.

Further, the carriage 3 is moved from the printing position to the non-printing position when the nozzle surface of the head 2 is contaminated with ink or the like, or each time the head 2 prints a fixed amount. Then, when the non-printing sensor 25 detects the carriage 3 moved to the non-printing position, the motor (not shown) moves the wiper blade 22 to the forward position shown by the broken line in FIG. Then, as the head 2 moves from the non-printing position to the printing position (in the direction of arrow B1 in FIG. 2), the nozzle surface of the head 2 and the wiping surface 22a of the wiper blade 22 come into sliding contact, and the nozzle surface is wiped. To be done. At the time of this wiping, the wiper blade 22 is slidably contacted in a bent state.

Then, at the moment of ending the wiping, the wiper blade 22 tries to restore the original shape by the elastic force. The ink wiped by the momentum of this restoration is ejected to the left in FIG. 2, that is, in the direction opposite to the direction in which the platen 16 and the printing paper 17 are arranged.

When the carriage 3 is moved in the printing direction and the print sensor 26 detects the carriage 3, the motor moves the wiper blade 22 to the retracted position shown by the solid line in FIG.

When the wiper blade 22 is moved to the retracted position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2, even if the print sensor 26 detects the carriage 3, the motor is not driven, that is, the wiper blade 22 is moved to the position shown in FIG. It does not move to the forward position shown by the broken line, but remains in the backward position.

In the inkjet printer 1 configured as described above, since the wiper blade 22 slides on the nozzle surface of the head 2 when the head 2 moves from the non-printing position to the printing position, the wiper blade 22 is wiped at the end of the wiping. The elastic force of the blade 22 causes the wiped ink to be ejected in a direction opposite to the direction in which the platen 16 and the printing paper 17 are arranged. Therefore, the ejected ink does not adhere to the platen 16 and the printing paper 17, and the platen 16 and the printing paper 17 are not contaminated.

Further, in this embodiment, the ink jetted from the head 2 is used for the printer 1 in which the ink is jetted and printed in the horizontal direction. Well, for example, it may be used in a device that prints by ejecting ink in the vertical direction.

Further, although the head 2 is arranged perpendicularly to the moving direction B in this embodiment, the head 2 may be arranged so as to be inclined with respect to the moving direction B.

In this embodiment, the motor moves the wiper blade 22 to the forward position and the backward position by detecting the carriage 3 by the non-printing sensor 25 and the printing sensor 26. However, the wiper blade 22 is mechanically moved. May be moved. For example, the first protrusion that engages the carriage 3 when the carriage 3 moves to the non-printing position is provided at the non-printing position, and the second protrusion that engages the carriage 3 when the carriage 3 moves to the printing position prints the second protrusion. Is located in position and operatively connects the first and second protrusions to the wiper blade 22. When the carriage 3 moves to the non-printing position, the carriage 3 moves to the non-printing position while engaging with the first protrusion, and the movement of the first protrusion causes the wiper blade 22 to move forward from the retracted position. The second protrusion is also moved to a position where it can be engaged with the carriage 3 while being moved to the position. Wiping is performed when the carriage 3 is moved to the print position, and then the carriage 3 is moved in the print direction while being engaged with the second protrusion. The movement of the second protrusion moves the wiper blade 22 from the forward movement position to the backward movement position. The second protrusion is retracted to a position where it does not engage with the carriage 3 when it is moved a predetermined distance.

The wiper blade 22 may be moved by software. For example, when a wiping command is issued, the CPU recognizes the position and moving speed of the carriage 3, then moves the carriage 3 to the non-printing position, and moves the wiper blade 22 from the retracted position to the advanced position. It is also possible to move the carriage 3 to the print position for wiping, move the carriage 3 to the print position, and then move the wiper blade 22 from the forward position to the backward position.

[0026]

[Effect of device]

 As is clear from the above description, according to the inkjet device of the present invention, the flexible member wipes the nozzle surface of the head as the carriage moves from the non-printing position to the printing position. At the moment of ending the wiping, the elastic force of the flexible member causes the wiped ink to be ejected in the direction in which the platen and the printing paper are not arranged. Therefore, the ejected ink does not adhere to the platen and the printing paper, the platen and the printing paper do not get dirty, and the print quality can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an inkjet printer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the vicinity of a wiper portion of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the vicinity of a wiper portion of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Printer 2 Head 3 Carriage 22 Wiper blade 22a Wiping surface

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A head that ejects ink droplets from a nozzle, a carriage that moves the head along a platen, and a nozzle surface of the head that wipes as the carriage moves from a non-printing position to a printing position. And a flexible member for controlling the inkjet device. 2. The flexible member is moved by a moving unit between an advance position capable of sliding contact with the nozzle surface of the head and a retracted position not sliding contact, the moving unit moving from a non-printing position of the carriage. To move to the print position, move the flexible member from the retracted position to the advance position, and do not move the flexible member to the advance position when the carriage moves from the print position to the non-print position. The inkjet device according to claim 1, wherein